Scan barcode
A review by troetschel
Ruinsong by Julia Ember
4.0
I absolutely loved this book! The magic system was super cool. The goddesses and their seasons and gifts were also super cool. I loved the worldbuilding, I thought the writing had some depth and interest to it. It's quite graphic - it literally opens with the main character committing magical murder - but it wasn't too gratuitous. I also appreciate that the author had a decent grasp on musical theory so there weren't any glaring issues talking about musical concepts.
I have one strong criticism, and that's the ridiculous way the author wrangled a particular infodump about the resistance. I found it very believable that Nolan would go charging into the palace in an attempt to save Remi through their 'betrothal'. I did NOT find it believable that he would do that while carrying an explicit and incredibly damning letter about the rebellion and their plans, and I found it even more ludicrous that he would sit with Remi IN THE QUEEN'S OWN ROOMS and infodumpincriminate himself, Remi's parents, and a number of others while also revealing important and valuable secrets. It was such a transparent tool to share information with the reader and I refuse to believe there wasn't a better way to have achieved that. It was distressingly obvious and it made me very, very frustrated, and it unfortunately soured me a tiny bit on the ending of the book.
Otherwise, a great sapphic dark fantasy with a tantalizing magic system
I have one strong criticism, and that's the ridiculous way the author wrangled a particular infodump about the resistance. I found it very believable that Nolan would go charging into the palace in an attempt to save Remi through their 'betrothal'. I did NOT find it believable that he would do that while carrying an explicit and incredibly damning letter about the rebellion and their plans, and I found it even more ludicrous that he would sit with Remi IN THE QUEEN'S OWN ROOMS and infodumpincriminate himself, Remi's parents, and a number of others while also revealing important and valuable secrets. It was such a transparent tool to share information with the reader and I refuse to believe there wasn't a better way to have achieved that. It was distressingly obvious and it made me very, very frustrated, and it unfortunately soured me a tiny bit on the ending of the book.
Otherwise, a great sapphic dark fantasy with a tantalizing magic system